Earlier this week, we wrote about the infamous Norwegian "Inner Circle" of black metal, and specifically we corrected a point that many fans and journalists often get wrong about the scene: its relation to Satanism.
The media will often claim that Norwegian black metal is somehow related to the "Church of Satan" - a religious cult/scam created by Anton Levy in America in the 1960s, think Scientology but without the high IQ of Ron Hubbard - and that bands like Darkthrone, Burzum and Immortal truly believe in "summoning the devil" inside "pentagrams" or some other form of nonsense.
In reality, anyone can take a look at the back cover of any Norwegian black metal album, such as Mayhem's "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" for example, to see what the members of the band thought of the "devil worship" cult. According to the "Heavy Metal Master Class" by Emile Alquier, as well as other reputable sources, Euronymous had literally put a bounty on the "top officials" of the church of Satan. Whether this is true or not, they all openly despised it and resented being associated in any way with the scam.
What Black Metal Artists Thought of Satanism and Devil Worship
In their own words, here are some quotes from prominent Norwegian black metal artists addressing the juvenile idea that black metal is somehow "orthodox Satanic" or about kindergarten devil worship:
Satyr (Satyricon)
Satyr has been quoted saying the following:
There were about 30 people in the inner circle, and nobody worshiped the devil or anything like that. The media at the time just made it up.
He is far from the only one who shares that opinion.
Ihsahn (Emperor)
Ihsahn has explained in numerous interviews that the extreme Satanic image projected by the scene was largely a way to create "fear and opposition to societal norms" (source: Ihsahn on the Black Metal Scene). He mentions that no one was in any way adhering to a real Satanic philosophy, should such thing even exist.
I am not a Satanist. I never have been. [...] There was never such a thing in Norway.
That is pretty clear enough. I won't stop Hollywood (see "Lords of Chaos") from making movies about "devil worshipers" in Norway, though.
Varg Vikernes (Burzum)
Again, his words are pretty easy to understand I think:
I could argue that I never was a devil worshipper [sic], but I think it is better to simply prove that devil worship is a product of the imagination of the Judeo-Christians.
Here, and elsewhere, you can see Varg Vikernes emphasising clearly that the Satanic elements were not only simple "shock value", they were also the product of one singular person in the scene: Euronymous. You can make the claim that Euronymous was the "most famous" black metaller ever, so in a way, the media is justified in their distortion of truth... but that's really just playing devil's advocate (clever pun alert).
King ov Hell (Gorgoroth)
Something we covered already in the interview with King ov Hell given to Bergen's top newspaper at the time. To reiterate, this is what King ov Hell had to say:
The so-called Satanist circle in Bergen was created by a journalist from BT. [...] I am of course proud of my Nordic heritage, so why would I throw that away to embrace some Middle-Eastern debasement? [...] The church is more satanist than we are. They are the ones who are concerned with Satan, not us.
Read the whole interview and see for yourself. BTW, King ov Hell was called the "most satanic" member of the black metal scene by Vice Media... and even HE denies being a "goat worshiper".
Necrobutcher (Mayhem)
Necrobutcher on Euronymous:
He would use Satanism as a way to shock. [...] I don't think he had any real ideology. We all thought he was mentally ill or something.
You can find more Necrobutcher quotes here, but needless to say: none corroborate the ludicrous idea that early Norwegian black metal musicians gathered in "rituals", performed "human sacrifice" (according to Kerrang!) or tried to "summon Lucifer".
This is just rumour-mongering in order to make black metal fans, and metal fans in general, look stupid, childish and cringe to the general public. In other words, it's just slander.
Ad
> Real Satanic Black Metal: The True History Of Satanism (Best Selling Book)
Return to Voice Metal News.
Tweet